Two decades later, ‘Glass’ tower will finally rise

The tower formerly known as Kallisto and later as 120 Ocean will finally rise as Glass, exMiami reported. Over two decades, the building’s blueprints have changed hands three times, from Arquitectonica to Bermello Ajamil and finally to Rene Gonzalez, according to the site.

The original 1993 Architectonica design for the 18-story, 10-unit tower on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach’s South of Fifth neighborhood included a boxy parking garage encased in a color palette that resembled an open crayon box. Gonzalez appears to have scrapped the colors in favor of more glass panels, according to a video by developer Terra Group.

“What was important to us was that the building dematerialize as it goes up, so it becomes lighter, then it starts to almost disappear into the sky,” Gonzalez said. “The building becomes almost a barometer of the environment.”

The project’s landscape architect Sebastian Junger said the design minimizes the use of “hardscape.”